2 for 1 due on Friday

Exam II


Modern Philosophy

Spring 2010


This exam is a take-home exam. It is due in a printed form on the 31st of March no later than 12:10pm. If I am not in my office place the exam in the folder hanging on the wall by my door marked for this course. I use some fancy words in this exam, look them up.


Please select two of the following three questions and write a thoughtful, complete, well argued essay in response. I would think that it would take a minimum of 1,000 words for each. These are NOT research questions so stick to the text and your notes on our discussion. Do not collaborate on this exam, do your own work. If you use a secondary source full citations are necessary. Each question is worth 50 points.


1. Select an object that you can see right now. Completely describe your perception of that object using Berkeley. At a minimum, make sure and consider the following: Idea, sensation, the status of the object when you are looking at it, the status of the object when you are not in the room, the existence of the object, and God.


2. What is the status of God according to the following thinkers: Leibniz, Berkeley and Hume. (Be sure and give a complete account) Of the three, which do you think is correct, or closest to the truth? Why? Why do the other two come up short?


3. According to Hobbes what is the status of man (humans)? Why do we have families? What is the “state of nature”? Did it really exist? Why use the hypothesis of “state of nature”? Describe the legal status of war according to Hobbes. Describe an ideal state according to Hobbes. How close is the United States?